


Endeavour: Fallow

by Parakeetist



Category: Endeavour (TV), Inspector Morse & Related Fandoms, Inspector Morse (TV)
Genre: Arrest, Detectives, England (Country), F/M, Flat - Freeform, Love, Police, Sheets, Sleep, Torrid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-28
Updated: 2019-03-28
Packaged: 2019-12-25 17:40:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18266219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Parakeetist/pseuds/Parakeetist
Summary: This is an alternate ending to the fourth series’ finale, “Harvest.” I would have much preferred this scene to the real one.It is my first story in prose for this site. I wrote it all in one sitting, in a few hours.No violence or foul language in this one. There's a scene of intimacy.Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoy.





	Endeavour: Fallow

Endeavour: Fallow

 

“Where is he?” Endeavour shouted, as he noticed the bruise under Joan’s right eye. It was too large to be the result of a slap. Ray must have hauled off and punched her.  


“Ah – ah-” Joan stammered. He pressed her.  


“Come on, where does he live?”  


“Ah, 121 Pine Street.”  


“That’s it. I’m going to pick him up. You stay here until I get back. I’m telling the next-door neighbor, in case you try to leave.”  


“I wouldn’t do that,” Joan said. “Besides, when he hit me, I provoked him.”  


“You did no such thing. The man has no control of his temper. I saw it when your father had a fight with him.”  


“My God, really?”  


“Yes. I broke it up, or else Mr. Thursday would have killed him.”  


“Well, go.”  


“Thank you. Get some sleep. Read whatever you want. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”  


She rushed forward and kissed him on the cheek. He blushed immediately, flustered.  


“All right,” he said, and ran out of the flat.  


Joan looked around the room. She went to the kitchen and looked in the fridge. He didn’t have much, just the makings of sandwiches, a bag of potatoes, and a few dinners in the freezer. She made herself a grape jelly sandwich, turned on the telly, and sat down to eat.  


After the television news was over, and she’d finished her sandwich, she washed the plate and put it away. Then she took off her nylons and shoes, and got under the bed covers. The sheets were cool, and smelled clean. Morse was a bachelor, and she was surprised to see he apparently did the laundry on a regular basis.  


It could be hours until Morse came back. She said a prayer that he would not be hurt.  


Then she shut her eyes, and fell asleep.

  


Joan woke up an hour later. She took a pair of Morse’s socks from his dresser and slipped them on. They were too big for her, but very warm.  


She stood in front of the bed. Her vision was hazy.  


Suddenly, she had a flashback to the fight with Ray. It had taken place earlier that day.  


“Can I get some help with the light bill? It’s very high this month,” she said.  


“Absolutely not. You should learn to turn things off around here,” he answered.  


“I tried to. Sometimes I don’t remember. I will try to do it in the future.”  


“You haven’t got one,” he said. He wound back his fist, and hit her under the right eye.  


She yelled in pain, and fell onto the rug. He had knocked her back at least a foot. She put a hand to her face. He laughed.  


“Get up, you cow. It’s bad enough you made me hit you.”  


She thought very carefully about her words. “Why did you do that?”  


“I told you. You made me. Now, get up.”  


She did.  


“You’d better get out of here. And don’t call the police, or I’ll kill you.”  


Joan got up and ran out the door. She headed toward a bus stop, a few block away.  


When she boarded the bus, she took a seat toward the front. There were few other people on the bus. The driver asked where she wanted to stop. She gave him Morse’s address.  


“We have a stop a couple blocks from there. That’s the closest I can take you,” the driver said.  


“That’s okay, then,” Joan replied.  


When she got off the bus, she ran for Endeavour’s flat. And that was how the day led up to what had just happened.  


Joan walked to the bathroom. She had time to take a shower, before Endeavour got back. She took off her dress and underclothes, and turned on the hot water.  


In five minutes, she was clean as a whistle. Joan toweled herself off and took a look at herself in the mirror. She blinked only once.  


Joan put her clothes back on. She went back to the living room. She noticed how small the room was. How could Morse live here? He was single. So was she, but her flat, paid for by Ray, had been a little bit bigger. She shuddered, not wanting to remember that place. Joan turned her thoughts to her room at her parents’ home. It was smaller than this room. Maybe she could help Endeavour look for a better flat.  


She picked up a book off the shelf at the side of the room. It was “Being and Nothingness,” by Jean-Paul Sartre. Good Lord. How could Morse stand this stuff? She opened the book nonetheless, and began to read.  


An hour later, Endeavour opened the door.  


Joan jumped up and put down the book. She ran to greet him at the door.  


He was panting, and his face was red. There were streaks of blood in many places.  


“Oh my God, Morse, are you all right?”  


“Yes. Just let me sit down for a second.”  


He staggered in and sat down on a chair. She went to the kitchen and got him a glass of ice water.  


“Drink this,” she said. He took the glass and chugged half of it in one pull.  


Did you get any calls?” he said, still panting.  


“No.”  


“Good. I’d hate to think Ray had found my number somewhere, and called you at the last minute.” He looked around the room. “Are you okay?”  


“Better than when I got here. I had a nap.”  


“Good. Do you want some dinner?”  


“I had a jelly sandwich two hours ago.”  


“That’s not enough. I’ll put on some chicken.”  


He tried to stand up to go to the kitchen, but she pushed him down. He looked surprised.  


“Stay here,” Joan said. “I can get it going for you.”  


She went to the freezer and got out the chicken. She set the oven for 200 degrees, and put the chicken in a tray. Once the tray was in the oven, she went back to Endeavour.  


“I read ‘Being and Nothingness’ while you were gone. Just the first couple chapters. It’s incomprehensible. There’s a chair in the beginning, and that’s all I remember. Did you have to buy it back in school?”  


“Yes,” he said. To expand my mind. I passed the class, but I haven’t read it since.”  


“Good for you.” They both smiled.  


“Well!” she said. He moved to sit on the bed. She took a chair. “Do you have any board games or something? I figure we have time for a quick game, before I go back to my parents’ house.”  


“Did you leave anything at the flat Ray had for you?” Endeavour asked.  


“Um, yes. Some clothes, a few toiletries, and some albums.”  


“We’ll have to go get them back. We can do that tomorrow. I have a warrant prepared. I just have to pick it up from the magistrate.”  


“Did you use one to get in just now?”  


“No. We went to his house, not your flat. Sure enough, he was there. He put up a hell of a fight.”  


“You’re bleeding.” She noted the marks on his face. “I’ll get a cloth.”  


“No, that’s all right.”  


“Tosh. The blood is all over your face.”  


“Really?” He got up and looked in the mirror. “I look frightening.”  


Endeavour went back to his seat on the bed. Joan stopped in the bathroom and got a can of antiseptic cloths. She came back and began to wipe off his face.  


“Your eyebrows are thick,” Joan said.  


“Are you kidding?” he laughed.  


“No, they are. Ought to buy you a brush.”  


“I have a comb. That should do it.”  


“Yes, it will.” She got a second cloth out of the can. Joan repeated this step until his face was completely clean. Then she got a towel, and tapped it all over. His face was quickly dry.  


“Thank you,” Endeavour said. He brushed a hand over his face. It was to his satisfaction. “Whew! What are we going to do?”  


“Play a board game?”  


“I don’t have one, except for chess.”  


“That’s a good game. Oh, I have to check on the chicken.” She rushed to the kitchen.  


Joan put on mitts and opened the oven. She took a pair of tongs and flipped over the pieces of chicken. They were baking nicely. Then she went back to the chair.  


“I didn’t put any marinade on them. They’re going to be bland,” she said.  


“Oh, that’s okay. I’m not too picky right now.”  


She noticed he was still panting.  


“You need rest,” she said. “Go to sleep. I’ll come back tomorrow.”  


“No. Stay.”  


“You mean it?”  


“Yes.”  


“Okay. You want me to put on the radio?”  


“Yes, let’s.”  


She went over to the stereo and found a classical station. She kept the volume low.  


“Figured you wouldn’t want to hurt your ears just now.” She smiled.  


“Good instinct.” He ran a hand through his hair.  


“What happened to Ray?” she asked.  


“We arrested him for battery and menacing. He ought to get a few years behind bars.”  


“Thank you. I never could have done anything about it. I would have just slunk off home.”  


“You’re welcome. I’ll keep an eye on him.”  


“Once he gets out?”  


“No.”  


She frowned, not knowing what he meant.  


“He may fall down the stairs at any moment.”  


She realized what he was getting at.  


“Are you going to – pay someone to-”  


“There are a few people who owe me, because I was able to get them lighter sentences. I’ll call in a favor.”  


“But that’s illegal.”  


“It’s necessary. He hit you.”  


She paused a moment, then said, “I’ll get the chicken.”  


She went back to the oven and shut it off. She used the mittens to take out the tray, and set it on top of the machine. Then she got out plates, and put the chicken on them.  


“Food’s ready,” she called. Endeavour put a hand to the small of his back, which twinged in pain, and walked over to the table. They began to eat.  


“This is good,” he said through his food.  


“I’ll get us some drinks.” There was only beer in the fridge. She brought back two bottles. He drank a third of it on his first pull.  


He ate in silence, until he was finished. He took both their dishes and utensils to the sink.  


“That’s done.” Endeavour ran a hand through his hair. Then he sat down on the bed again.  


Suddenly, Joan bent over in pain. She clutched the left side of her chest.  


“What’s wrong?” he asked.  


“Chest pains.”  


“Come over here.” He beckoned her to sit next to him. She came over.  


“Do you think I should call my father?” she said.  


“No.”  


He put a hand over her ribs and felt the section with his fingers. She closed her eyes.  


“No breaks,” he said. Then he moved his hand to the underside of her breast.  


Joan opened her eyes. “Did you just-?”  


“It’s a scientific examination,” Endeavour said. He kept his eyes on her the whole time.  


Joan gulped. “Please.”  


He caressed her slowly. Then he dropped his hand.  


“Okay,” he said. He kissed the front of her chest.  


Joan breathed heavily, and tugged her dress to straighten it.  


Endeavour was still staring at her.  


“Uh, what?” Joan said, laughing nervously.  


“Marry me,” he blurted out.  


She drew back in shock. “What?”  


“I want to. I have loved you for a long time.”  


“Ah, I don’t understand.”  


“Please. It’s real.”  


“Ah, how do I know?”  


He pulled up her fingers and put them over his heart. It was thudding wildly. “You know what married couples are supposed to do.”  


“But we’re not-”  


“We will be.”  


Morse looked at her hands. They were shaking. “Look at you!” She put a hand to her lips.  


He reached out and put her hands around his waist. “Oh –” she said, and stood up.  


He pulled her back down onto the bed. He closed his eyes and kissed her.  


“Do you love me?” Endeavour asked.  


“Since I first saw you,” she responded.  


“Look at you,” he said, and pulled her hands to the inside of his shirt. His chest was moving in and out.  


Endeavour had not taken off his jacket since he stepped into the flat. Now he pulled it off in a flash and pulled Joan to him. He sank part of the way into the mattress. She leaned over him.  


He kissed her hard. She pushed into him. Both their eyes were closed.  


He hurried to undo his pants. His hands moving a mile a minute, he pulled up her skirt, and took down her underwear.  


Just then, Morse remembered the protection that was in the top drawer of the dresser. Fly open, he let her go and removed one from the drawer. He put it on.  


He opened her knees. She still had her eyes closed.  


He pushed his body. She shouted.  


Endeavour surged inside her body. “Oh-” he said. “Is it – is it good to you-”  


He moved his head to the side. “Oh!” he said again. He was waiting, to make her finish first. It was so hard to do. He groaned.  


She moved her fingers over his chest. He reached completion. She did as well.  


“Oh!” he said, and at last opened his eyes.  


Endeavour threw away his protection, and pulled the box of them out of the drawer. He put it on the headboard shelf. He dropped back onto the bed. She pulled her dress straight again.  


“What am I supposed to call you?”  


“Dev. That’s what Mom used to call me.” He raised his arms over his head.  


A moment later, they turned to look at each other. Slowly, he peeled off her clothes, then his own.  


This time, he went slower. She caressed and scratched his back.  


They did not say anything.  


Some time later, he groaned again. He was done.  


He moved to lie beside her. He took off the protection and threw it in the trash.  


“Let me rest,” he said, smiling.  


“Yes. When are we going to get married?”  


“I’ll start planning it next week.”  


“I’ve got to tell my parents.”  


“Eventually.” He smiled, and pulled her hair over his neck. It was so good with her here.  


They went to sleep. 


End file.
